Life Between the Now and Not Yet

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Raw Reality & Spirit Unhindered

Just a day or two after my last post I received news that my dear friend Cindy’s son, Ian, was diagnosed with Leukemia. Cindy wrote in an email, “This is not a road we wanted to travel.”

Ian is a vibrant young man, curly-headed, happy, fun-loving. In a snap everything changed for him, for his family, and in a variety of ways, things changed for everyone who knows him. In fact, now a whole lot of praying people know him by name and are lifting him to the Father.
Over the past week I’ve pondered the Scriptural truth of the Spirit being “unhindered.” I worried that my last post sounded trite in the face raw, painful, life-threatening reality. Do I really believe what I wrote? I felt anguish, fear, and a very strong sense of “No this cannot be happening to such a young man!”

Soon, however, Cindy emailed with the news of a brand new laptop for Ian – given unexpectedly and unprompted by his boss. Another friend of the family shared Ian’s diagnosis with her hair stylist. The 24 year old, starting-her-own-business stylist donated her “tip” to help provide the Peterson family with gas money for their frequent trips to and from the hospital.

Within about 24 hours of Ian’s diagnosis meals were being delivered to their home and the hospital. Cindy posted yesterday that while sitting next to her son, who has undergone the first round of chemo and is in ICU, longed for a cup of coffee, and within minutes someone showed up with a cup. I posted a request for prayer on my Facebook page and friends from all over the world responded, and they don’t know Ian, but they know Jesus.

John and Cindy sent a letter out to many of their friends a few days ago. John writes, “Pray that all of us would follow hard after Jesus. He is leading us to places we do not want to go. At the same time He is good, gentle, and loves Ian and all of us perfectly, and He is worthy of our trust. Cindy and I want to walk hand-in-hand with Him — no matter where He leads us.”

I’m humbled by the power of the Spirit, the community of saints, and the very intimate way in which the Spirit works the threads of the gospel into even the most heart-wrenching places.